Mail-delivery apparatus.



No. 886,995. PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

- A. K. LANDIS. A

MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS. APPLIOATION TILED MAR.16, 190a.

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ALBERT K. LANDIS, OF SCHWENKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

MAIL-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

Application filed March 16, 1908. Serial No. d21,289.

and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Delivery Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for delivering mails from rapidly moving trains, and comprises various details of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically defined in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accomp anying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view showing the yielding connections for supporting a netting.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates a car having an arm B pivotally mounted upon the side thereof, and C designates a hook which is pivotally mounted upon the end thereof and provided with a handle C. Said hook is adapted to receive a mail bag D for delivery and is so arranged that, when the weight of the mail bag hangs upon the hook, the hook will retain the bag but, as the handle of the hook is tilted by a stationary object, the bag will be released from the hook. A spring F is fastened at one end to the side of a car and its other end secured to said arm and serves to normally hold the arm at right angles to the car. A wire or cord H is fastened to an eye H upon said arm and extends to any suitable location within the car and is provided for the purpose of drawing the arm toward the door of the car for the purpose of placing a mail bag upon said hook, after which, by releasing the cord or wire, the arm may return to its normal position at right angles to the car and hold the mail bag in readiness to be released at the desired location.

Posts J are positioned at the desired locationwhere the mail bag is to be deposited and l l l 4 pins 1 are mounted in inclined apertures K. LANDIS, a i formed one in each of said posts and upon each pin is mounted a spring K hearing be tween a washer K upon the pin and the head of the pin and serving to normally hold the pins at their farthest outer throw. A netting S is provided having a ring S at each corner thereof, and to each ring one of said pins is pivotally connected. The purpose of said springs is to allow the netting to yield uncer the impact of the force of the mail bag striking the netting to break the force thereof.

A crane T is positioned at any location ad jacent to the netting and is provided with an inverted hook R at its free end which is designed to be ositioned in the path of the handle end of said hook upon the car and provided for the purpose of causing the hook to tilt when immediately over the netting, so that the mail bag carried by the hook may be turned into said netting and be safely delivered. After the bag has been released from the hook, the latter will by gravity return to its normal position and, when not in use, may be drawn back against the side of the car.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that, by the provision of an apparatus as shown and described, a simple and efficient means is afforded whereby mail bags may be conveniently delivered from a rapidly passing train with suitable means for receiving the mail bag as it is deposited from the car.

What I claim to be new is 1. A mail delivery apparatus comprising, in combination with a movable car, a pivotal arm mounted thereon, a hook swiveled upon said arm and having a handle portion projecting above its pivot, stationary means for tilting said hook to release the bag, station ary posts, spring-pressed pins carried thereby, and a netting connected to said pins, as set forth.

2. A mail delivery apparatus comprising, in combination with a movable car, a pivotal arm mounted thereon, a hook swiveled upon said arm and having a handle portion projecting above its pivot, a stationary crane having a downwardly curved hook projecting from the end thereof and positioned in the path of the handle of said hook upon the car and designed to tilt the hook as the latter passes by the crane, and a yielding netting mounted underneath said hook upon the crane, as set forth.

3. A mail delivery apparatus comprising a car, an arm pivotally mounted upon the side means for receiving the mail ba as it is re- 1( thereof, a spring fastened at one end to the leased from said hook, as set fort car and its other end to said arm, a swiveled In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my hook mounted upon the arm, a wire secured signature in the presence of two witnesses. to said arm and adapted to pass Within the ALBERT K LANDIS car, a stationary crane, a projection u on the endthereof positioned in the path of t e han- Witnesses: dle end of said hook and designed to tilt the F. K. LANDrs,

latter to release therefrom a mail bag, and IRWIN G. WANNER. 

